Masquerade
by princessm1090
Summary: There is a Masquerade ball and Musa meets a mystery man, does she fall for him or is there someone else she's thinking about? MxR  my 1st fanfic!  COMPLETE!
1. The Masquerade Ball

**well here you go - my 1st fanfic takes deep breath enjoy!**

**The Masquerade Ball**

"I'm so excited! I can't wait I've already found my dress, now I just need pick up my mask" Stella squealed. The annual Alfea Masquerade Ball, which was the social event of the fall, was coming up in a day and all the girls were very excited.

"Ha-ha Stella we are all aware of how happy you are" bloom said while pulling her fingers out of her ears due to Stella's insipid screeching. Just as Bloom said that, Musa and Flora walked in with bags in their hands.

"Well we have our dresses and our lovely masks" Musa said sarcastically

"You know that you are excited about the ball" Stella began "Now if you would only accept one of the many offers you have received than we could all have dates"

"Stella we've been through this, I don't mind going alone" Musa said reluctantly. She had gotten over 50 offers for a date to the ball but the one guy she wanted to ask never did.

"Fine Musa but they will fawn over you anyway, so you'll at least have someone to dance with" Stella said as she walked into her room to try on the dress for the final time. "Remember girls our hair and nail appointments are at 3 pm tomorrow "DON'T BE LATE! And we have a facial to go to a 6pm!" Stella said before winking and closing the door.

Musa rolled her eyes and walked into her room. She laid her dress on the bed and looked at herself with her mask on, in the mirror. When she put on her mask, her look changed slightly. That was the magic of the ball, it would be very hard to recognize one person from another because the masks were enchanted so they could conceal everyone's identity. Until midnight, that is when everyone takes off their masks and reveals themselves. Stella was at first against the idea, she did not want her "snookums" to mistake some other girl for her. Then, she and the rest of the girls decided to see the guys before they put on the masks, that way there would be no mix ups.

Not that Musa had to worry about that, she did not have a date. She wanted so badly for Riven to ask her but it had become painfully obvious that Riven saw her as a friend. They actually made very good friends, but Musa couldn't help but want more.

Musa let out a sigh and walked back over to her bed, untying the mask, which was now tied around her head, in the process. She placed it on her nightstand and then she hung the dress up and left the room. She was already late for Enchantix training with Griselda and she did not want yet another detention.

"Well the mask ball is tomorrow" Sky said as he tried on his costume and mask. He was looking forward to spending a night dancing with Bloom.

"Yea and Stella has called me 4 times to remind me" Brandon said as he walked into the common room that all 5 guys shared. "By the way do you know who Riven is taking to the mask? Stella has been bugging me about it"

"Uhh no but a bunch of girls have tried to get him to ask them out" Sky laughed

"Wonder why he hasn't asked any of them" Brandon said even though he was well aware of the answer

"I think he's over Musa cause they have been very friend like when they are around each other, at least that's what Bloom tells me" Sky said

"Stella's gonna be disappointed" Brandon laughed. Then he looked at his watch. "Dude we have class in 5 minutes! Get changed we gotta go"

"Alright hold on" Sky went to his room and put on his uniform and on their way out they saw Riven walking towards then with a costume in hand.

"So what are you wearing to the mask" Brandon asked

"Wow you've turned into your girlfriend" Riven said sarcastically

"At least I have one" Brandon said attempting to be funny but after realizing what he said he regretted it.

"Funny" Riven said rudely as he turned around and headed to his room

"C'mon bro, I didn't mean it like that" Brandon said but Riven was already in his room.

"He didn't take it personally, he knows your kidding, come on Cordatorta is gonna kill me if I'm late again.

Brandon and Sky walked off to class. Riven walked into his room to find Helia hanging up his costume for the mask. "Hey man what's up" Helia said

"Nothing, I gotta go" Riven said as he put his stuff down grabbed his keys and left.

­

Hope you like it – I know its kinda boring right now but it will get better read the next chapter – please review and be honest


	2. Riven Revealed

**Riven Revealed**

Riven sped over to silent falls, a place that he was visiting more and more often. Riven took his normal place at the base of a tree and looked out at the beautiful landscape before him. _Why can't I get her out of my head? _Riven thought angrily. It was his senior year and he was supposed to be having fun, but he was miserable.

He thought about what Brandon said. Riven wanted a girlfriend, although he would never voice that desire, but more than that Riven wanted Musa. She was so perfect. Beautiful, caring, smart, she was everything Riven wanted. And nothing Riven could have. He was good at everything he did but he knew he would be a horrible boyfriend, so starting a relationship with anyone, especially Musa, was out of the question.

No matter how much he loved her, and he did love her, he was no way near the type of guy she needed. He had hurt her so much in the past and she was so much better than him. He could never make her happy, truly happy. He had resolved to never voice his feelings for her. It would only complicate things, especially since he knew Musa would never feel the same way.

He knew Musa used to have a crush on him, but it was just that a crush. Musa would never love him the way he loved her. Riven loved her with all his heart, her happiness was the only thing that mattered to him at this point. He would do anything to keep her safe and happy, even if it meant being miserable.

Riven looked down at the ground and signed heavily as he ran his hand through his hair.

"What's wrong" a familiar and beautiful voice asked.

Riven looked up to see the woman of his dreams looking back at him. She was so beautiful he thought. The setting sun was reflecting off her hair making it an amazing navy color. Her royal blue eyes sent chills down his spine and his heart began to race. She was wearing her normal clothes but she had her ipod in her hand. That is when Riven realized he was staring and as soon as he managed to tare his eyes away from her's he jumped up and attempted to sound completely unaffected by her.

"Nothing I'm fine" Riven said trying to sound calm but instead it came out rude

"Okay just asking" Musa said a little taken aback

"Sorry, umm uhh how are you?" Riven asked

"I'm fine, so umm are you going to the mask ball?" Musa asked trying to lighten the mood

"Yea are you?" Riven asked coolly. He was finally able to get his emotions under control.

"Well duh it's at Alfea dummy!" Musa said with a mischievous glint in her eyes

Riven let out a laugh. He liked when they talked one on one. They were pretty good at being friends and he figured that they would have been even better if he didn't always want to kiss her when he saw her. He wanted to stroke her cheek, run his fingers through her navy hair, wrap his hands around her petite frame….that was when Riven realized he was daydreaming about her…again .

"So what are you going to wear" Musa asked

"Well if I told you, that would defeat the purpose of the whole Masquerade thing wouldn't it?" Riven asked with a smirk. Riven had one question that was burning in his mind. _Who is she going with? _He had ever intention of beating the living daylights out of the lucky bastard that got to take her to the ball. But he knew that wouldn't go over well with Musa and it would not be long before she figured out the real reason he did it. So instead of saying anything he just kept his mouth shut.

"I guess your right" Musa said with a smile. _Why can't he like me_ Musa thought. She wanted to be with Riven so bad. He was not only amazingly good looking, but she felt like she could really open up to him. And even after they had one of their many arguments, she could not stop thinking about him.

"RING"

"Oh, that's Stella" Musa said looking at her cell phone "Oh I'm late for the facial, she's going to kill me"

Riven laughed. "Better not keep her waiting, want a ride?" He was desperately hoping she said yes. Even though he knew the longer he was around her, the harder it was to let her go – it was always worth it.

"No I'm fine, I'll just fly, but thanks" Musa said with a smile. She knew if she showed up to Alfea with Riven that she would have to deal with a myriad of questions from all the girls, and she was tired really of saying that Riven wasn't interested in her that way.

"Okay, I guess I'll see you at the ball" Riven said

"That is if you can find me" Musa said with a smile and then flew away

Riven sighed as she flew away. Suddenly he was in a better mood. He hoped on his leva

bike and rode back to school; he had hours of homework to do.

**Aww! Riven loves her, but who will musa be with at the ball? review please and tell me the truth**


	3. Hidden Faces

Disclaimer: I don't own winx club (why do we need to write this??)

**Hidden Faces**

The day of the ball had finally arrived. The girls had just returned from their hair and nail appointments. They all looked amazing, especially Musa. She put on her dress, which was a beautiful emerald green strapless dress that went down to just above her knees. The dress was tight until it reached her waist, then it flared out a little bit. Her hair was all let down and it was curled. She looked absolutely stunning. Her mask was silver with 2 green feathers on either side of a silver one.

"Wow, we look amazing!" Stella said as she looked at all of her friends through the reflection in a mirror as she played with her hair.

Musa gave herself one look in mirror and smiled. _Yea…I guess I do look pretty good _she thought

Just then Stella heard more leva bikes pull up to Alfea. Stella went to the window and saw Timmy, Sky, Brandon, Helia, and Scott (Layla's date) take off their helmets and walk into the school. "They're here, but no Riven" Stella said as she looked over to Musa.

"I don't know where he is" Musa said before Stella could ask

"Sorry, I just figured you might since you two seem to be pretty good friends" Stella said defensively, she had given up on trying to get the two of them together, it seemed like Riven wasn't interested and Musa had finally gotten over him.

"Helia said that he thinks that Riven is gonna wear blue" Flora said. She had secretly asked Helia a million questions about what Riven was going to do for the ball, in hopes that he and Musa would get together. She knew her best friend, and there was no way Musa was over him.

"Whatever I'm sure he'll turn up and if not we'll see him at midnight" Bloom said as she heard a knock on the door.

The girls grabbed their masks and ran to a mirror quickly to make sure they all looked perfect.

The guys came in and greeted their respective girls. Musa decided she wanted to leave now before all the lovey – dovey crap started. Layla noticed Musa wanted to leave so she thought she should help her best friend out.

"Hey Scott, put on your mask, oh and you too Musa come on I wanted to go downstairs and party!" Layla said. Scott and Musa promptly put on their masks. "So if you guys need us, this is how we look" Layla said addressing everyone. "Come on let's go to the ball"

Musa, Layla, and Scott walked out and Musa sped up to get in front of Layla and Scott, the last thing she wanted to be was a third wheel.

Musa entered the ballroom and many eyes turned to her, many male eyes. A couple girls got angry and stormed away from their dates after their dates stared at Musa. One person in particular person was completely entranced by the sight of her.

"Hey Musa" a voice said from behind Musa

"Umm hi" Musa said still trying to figure out who was behind the white mask. "How did you know it was me?"

"The mask doesn't hide you too well" said the man in white

"Can't say the same for you" Musa said as she examined his face. That was one very good mask because she did not know who was behind it.

The man in the white mask smiled. Musa didn't recognize him at all. Although he was hurt initially he saw an amazing opportunity unfold before him.

**Who could**** it be?? I already know!! Haha suffer! Please review **

**Short Chapter sorry it may be alittle bit before I can update, I got less then stellar SAT scores and I'm in the mood, I just want curl up in bed and watch TV till forever**


	4. The Man In The Mask

Disclaimer: I don't own winx

**The Man in the Mask**

Riven looked at Musa, she was so beautiful. _If she doesn't recognize me, then I can be someone else tonight. I can be around her and tell her she's beautiful and amazing.. _Riven knew he would never again have the opportunity. He had wanted to be affectionate with her, but he knew it would ruin the friendship they had, and that was something he could never bare to lose. But now he was anyone that Musa knew from Red Fountain, and even though it bothered him to think that maybe she was imagining him to be someone else, he didn't care. This was his one night to completely happy.

Before he could tell himself that this was a bad idea, he did something he never thought he would do "May I have this dance"

Musa loved the attention and gladly accepted his offer

The two began to dance, and Riven regretted it considering he had two left feet

"So I'm guessing you don't dance much" Musa said flirtatiously

"How could you tell" Riven said sarcastically

"Don't worry, I'll teach you" Musa said with a big smile on her face. _He reminds me so much of Riven, could it be him?!?_ Musa suddenly got very excited

Then Riven said told Musa something he had been dying to tell her. "You look amazing"

Musa smiled something she had thought she wouldn't be doing much of that night. "Thanks, you look pretty good too" _yup, definitely not Riven._ Musa thought sadly, but her good mood was quickly regained when she looked up at her mystery man.

Riven was having so much fun. He was very happy to find out that Musa didn't have a date to the dance, but he was blissfully happy while he spent the night talking and dancing with Musa.

The two walked out to one of the many balconies because they needed a break from dancing.

"So are you going to ever tell me who you are" Musa inquired

"It's a mask ball, I think the point is that I don't tell you" Riven said smugly

"Then what should I call you? Musa inquired

"I know! How about the white knight, that is who you are dressed as right" Musa said

Riven looked surprised "You've read that storybook"

"No, but it was my grandma's favorite book to read to me when I was little, but all I can remember is the cover"

"Oh well it's one of my favorites" The White Knight was a story that Riven's mother used to read to him every night, before she and his father died in a car accident.

"Then that's perfect! Well at least until I figure out who you really are" Musa said as she reached up towards his face, an attempt to remove his mask.

Riven promptly took her hands in his to stop her from revealing his true identity. "That's a good way to lose a hand" He said with a smirk

"You would hurt me?" Musa said with a flirtatious pout

"Never, I'm your knight, I'll protect you, Princess" Riven said as he stroked her cheek with his thumb.

He looked deep into her eyes; the moonlight was shining on her face making her look even more beautiful, if that was at all possible. Without thinking, Riven lowered his head and lightly kissed her on the lips. Then, being unable to resist the lips that had been tempting him, he pressed his lips firmly onto hers. When Musa began to respond to him, he wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed her passionately, he never wanted it to end.

Musa's feelings towards the kiss were very similar. _Wow! He's a very good kisser_ she thought as she cupped his face with her hands. Musa felt so happy in his arms. She ran one hand through his hair. Then, it was stopped by the thin fabric that was holding his mask onto his head. She then tried, once again, to take her mask off.

Her hand was stopped, once again, by his hand. He smiled as he kissed her. He pulled away and looked at her with a smirk.

"Sorry, but I would like to know who I'm kissing, besides you can't blame a girl for trying" Musa smiled, still trying to catch her breath after the most amazing kiss she had in her life.

He took the hand and kissed it. "I can't stay angry at you and what's wrong with a little mystery?" he asked with a smirk. He then lowered his and kissed her again. He knew he would never have another opportunity to kiss her, so he put as much passion in it as he could.

When they pulled apart for the final time, Musa looked into his eyes. _Why do I keep thinking its Riven? It's not him, he's wearing blue and he doesn't like me that way. _Musa thought trying not to get disappointed. She was having so much fun with this guy, why should her feelings for Riven get in the way?

Riven looked into Musa's eyes, he never wanted to let her go. He was having the best night of his life, but his amazing mood was ruined when he noticed the time. When midnight came around he would have to take off his mask, it was tradition. Of course, he was never one to follow tradition. He couldn't let Musa know it was him, it would ruin everything. He had to make his exit now.

"Look princess, I really n- …"

"CRASH"

Musa and Riven managed to look away from each other to see what was happening on the other side of the school. There was a big cloud of dust and as it cleared three figures stepped out.

**I think you guys can guess who the party crashers are. Okay I hope you guys like it, it should be getting more interesting now. **

**Review please – it makes me feel good!!!**


	5. Party Crashers

**I forget who asked me this – but my inspiration for this fanfic was the ****Gossip Girl**** episode - "The Handmaiden's Tale". I absolutely love that show and the book series.**

**ANYWAY….**

**So what happens next…. Here you go – hope you like it!**

Disclamier: I don't own Winx Clun

**Party Crashers**

"CRASH"

"Those witches" Musa said angrily as she watched the Trix sisters come through the cloud of dust.

"How the hell did they get out of the Omega Dimension" Riven said quietly to himself

"I'm sorry, I have to deal with this" Musa said turing to Riven.

"I'm coming with you" Riven said as they two of them rushed through the crowd. Riven grabbed some freshman's sword since he left his on his bike.

"Don't you witches have a life" Stella screamed as the rest of the Winx Club gathered.

"We thought we'd drop in on you pathetic little ball" Darcy said

"Well you would look better with a mask on" Musa said rudely to Darcy while Riven kept his hand on her waist protectively.

The witches began to attack the winx club, but the girls managed to maneuver the fight outside the school so nothing else could get ruined.

"It just the witches, we can take them" Musa yelled to the girls

"Let's see if you can take me Princess" Darcy said as she fired an attack at Musa. Luckily Riven jumped in front of her and deflected the attack with the sword.

Darcy flew further out into the quad. Musa was not going to let her get away with crashing the party, not on one of the best nights of her life. Riven stuck close behind, he was not going to let Darcy hurt her.

"Looks like you've found yourself a new bodyguard, oh please let me be there when Riven finds out" Darcy said with a smirk. "Psychic Beam!" she sent out another attack, this time at Riven. She then immediately fired at Musa.

The attack hit Riven head on. He was thrown back and when he hit the ground his mask slipped off. He looked up to see that Darcy's eyes went wide with complete shock. "Well, well, your Musa's knight in shining armor" She said as she walked over to Riven, who was on the ground tying his mask back on his head.

"Shut. Up. Darcy." Riven said clenching his teeth with anger. He looked over to Musa who was lying on the ground, but she didn't look injured and was beginning to pull herself up.

"Oh no! Does the princess not know its you? Maybe I should tell her, or maybe I should kill her and make you watch" Darcy said as she flew up into the air. "I honestly don't know which would be more satisfying, watching you get rejected or killing the little pixie." Darcy continued with an evil smile.

Fortunately for Riven, Musa was still picking herself up off the ground so she did not see his face or hear his and Darcy's little chat. But now, Darcy knew who he really was and he had to do whatever it took to keep the witch's mouth shut, and keep Musa safe.

"Are you alright?" Musa said as she ran to Riven's side.

"I'm fine, get out of here I can take care of this witch" Riven said as he got up off the ground.

"No, she needs to get what's coming to her" Musa said flying into the air

"Awww… little princess, I'm sure you would love to know who you prince charming is" Darcy teased as she threw attacks at Musa. Riven watched angrily from the ground. Then, he noticed that Darcy's sisters had given up and began to retreat. But Darcy was still hitting Musa with a barrage of attacks.

"Darcy let's go we can finish them off later" Icy yelled

"Just let me take care of this little annoyance" Darcy threw a final attack and it hit Musa with full force. Musa began to fall right out of the sky. Darcy smirked and yelled "This isn't over pixie" as she flew away with her sisters.

Riven caught Musa right before she hit the ground. He felt horrible; he couldn't even protect the woman he loved. And the reason she was hurt was because Darcy was still holding a grudge against Riven. Darcy knew that the one way to really hurt him was to hurt Musa.

Riven looked down at Musa and gently placed her on the ground. The Winx Club and their dates ran to Musa's aid and Faragonda and Ofelia were not far behind. Luckily for Riven, they were all to caught up with Musa to notice that him.

"We need to get her into the infirmary" Ofelia said urgently. Riven nodded obediently and carried her into the infirmary.

**1 hour later…**

"She will be fine, she just needs some rest" Ofelia said after some evaluation of Musa. Riven was the only one in the room with Ofelia, and that was only because the refused to leave Musa's side. The Winx Club and the boys were waiting outside the infirmary.

"So um who is the guy Musa is with?" Stella said breaking the uncomfortable silence

"I don't know but she seemed very happy, until.. you know" Layla said with a uncomfortable smile

"Aww! That's so romantic" Stella squealed. Just then Ofelia then walked outside and told everyone waiting outside that Musa was fine and to go back to the ball.

Riven was then left alone in the room with Musa. He didn't want to leave her alone, but he felt an unbelievable amount of guilt, it was all his fault. He then bent down and kissed her on the forehead. He decided to leave, no matter how amazing that night was, he had been fooling himself.

He turned around to leave when he felt a small hand holding his preventing him from leaving.

"So am I ever going to know who you are" Musa said quietly as her eyes opened slightly.

Riven turned around and looked into her eyes. He wanted to tell her everything, but he wouldn't. He instead walked over to her and sat at her bedside. He caressed her cheek and lightly kissed her on the lips. Musa was tired and she eventually fell asleep. When she was sound asleep Riven got up.

"Trust me, you don't want to know" he whispered in her ear and left.

**Aww…Musa still doesn't know who "the white knight" really is – What's gonna happen???? **

**Please Review!! I'll update ASAP – I'm still trying to figure out how it ends – tell me what you think!**


	6. The Plot Thickens

**Thanks for the reviews - I am trying to make this as interesting as possible**

**So what happened after the Masquerade Ball?? Here you go - -**

**The Plot Thickens**

It had been a week since the masquerade ball and all Musa could think about was her mystery man. The girls did not badger her with a million questions about him since she was still recovering, but now that she was allowed to go back to her room, she knew she was going to be barraged with a million questions.

Musa walked slowly through the hallway with her mask in her hand. She stopped in the middle of the hallway and examined her mask slowly. She ran her fingers through the soft green feathers and thought about that night. She had so much fun and it seemed like he did too, so why was she so miserable now? He had made no attempts to contact her after the whole witch incident. _Maybe the whole ordeal scared him off;_ _I guess that's just my luck_. She thought. It would make sense, who would want to be around someone that is constantly being attacked by the same crazed witch. She looked out the window then back at her mask and then gave a small sign as began again down the hallway.

Musa reached the door to the common room and took a deep breath. She knew what was on the other side of the door, 5 girls that would ask a million questions that she really did not want to answer. She slowly opened the door and noticed only Stella was there and she was curled up on the couch with a yellow blanket, sleeping. Musa slowly tip-toed her way to her room, hoping to avoid the myriad of questions that the princess of solaria would surly have. Unfortunately, Musa's complete focus on being quiet made her forget how loud her phone was, so when it went off Musa dropped everything in her arms and awoke the sleeping princess. She looked angrily at her phone wondering who was the one calling her and ruining her quiet entrance. One of her friends from back home, she would have to call him back considering Stella just screamed.

"MUSA!!!" Stella screamed with joy. This loud scream alerted all the other Winx girls that were in the dorm that Musa was finally back to the room.

"Oh hey Musa, how are you feeling sweetie?" Flora asked as she and Bloom walked out of their room.

"More importantly who was the hottie you were dancing with?" Stella said with a huge grin on her face.

"Stella that is very rude, one should not pry," Tune said as she took her place on Musa's shoulder.

"Anyway, come on tell us," Layla begged

"Honestly guys, I don't know," Musa said sadly

"What do you mean?" Bloom asked

"We had our masks on the entire night and after the whole witch attack thing, the last thing I remember was him catching me," Musa explained.

"Well I'm sure he'll turn up, I mean you two were very close at the mask ball," Stella said with a sly smile.

"I don't know, if he wanted me then don't you think he would have made some type of contact," Musa said. When she noticed her friends had no way to cheer her up after that remark, she decided to act like it didn't bother her. _It worked when I tried to convinced them that I'm over Riven_. "Look it fine," Musa began. Her friends gave her very skeptical faces. "I mean it, like I'm going to freak out about a guy that I danced with for one night."

"Well he is obviously an idiot, I mean you can have anyone you want and if he was smart he would have asked you out when he had the chance," Stella said trying to cheer up her friend.

"Thanks, but I just want to get into my pajamas and start my homework, I have a billion things to do if I want to catch up with all the work I missed," Musa said as she grabbed her stuff and made her way to her room.

Once in her room, Musa examined her mask again. She wished so badly for her mystery man to be Riven. She found it easy to talk to him, even though they usually ended up arguing. She loved it. She knew that she could trust Riven and he was always there for her, even when they had an argument, she knew if she needed him, he would be there. But, he would be there as a friend, and nothing more. "Where was he at the mask ball?" Musa asked herself quietly. She was desperately hoping that when he saw her at the ball, he would see what he was missing and fall for her. It was a crazy dream, but still it would have been nice if he had at least shown up, he did tell her he would be there. She had feelings for him since her freshman year and now she was pretty sure she was in love with him, but Riven had never shown any sign of interest in her, romantically that is. She just had to accept the fact that there wasn't going to be anymore to their relationship.

On the other hand, she was excited to have feelings for someone else. It would, at the very least, take her mind off of Riven. She did manage to forget about her feelings for Riven while she was with "the white knight". He was sweet and kind and an amazing kisser. Musa couldn't help but smile when she thought about their kiss. The entire time she couldn't help but think that the guy she was with _was_ Riven, he sounded a bit like him, but that was probably the mask's magic. He also talked a bit like Riven, he was a little sarcastic and still it was charming. _I'm being crazy, he wasn't Riven_ Musa thought. She was letting her fantasies get the best of her. She just had to forget everything that happened. Its not like she was making any progress with her mystery man since he had not made any attempt to see her since that night. Romance was just not working out for her.

Stella was not going to take this lying down. Her best friend was hurting and she was going to do something about it. As soon as Musa shut the door to her room, Stella was immediately on the phone with her boyfriend. Musa's mystery man had to go to Red Fountain, so maybe Brandon would be able to figure it out, even she knew how ridiculous of a request it was, but it was better than doing nothing.

**Red Fountain**

"Okay snookums I promise ill try to figure it out," Brandon said getting a little irritated. "Yes, yes I promise – okay love you too – bye." Brandon rolled his eyes and smiled, he loved Stella, but sometimes she was just a bit much.

"So what's got Stella so excited?" Helia asked with a smile as he scribbled something in his notebook.

"Apparently Musa doesn't know or remember the guy she was with during the ball, and it's our new mission to figure out who this guy is," Brandon said a little protectively. He had become a big brother figure to Musa over the years because she was always the one to help him out when Stella was angry at him, and she was the youngest of their group, so the "little sister" persona was pretty much given to her. He wanted to help figure out who this guy was, but he knew the chances of figuring it out were slim unless the guy she was with made the first move.

"I'm sure whoever she was with will call her or something, Musa is pretty popular around her," Helia said with a laugh.

"Well if this guy hurts Musa, I'll kick his ass, and I'm sure Riven would join in on it," Brandon said with a smirk.

"Maybe we should get Riven to help figure out who this guy is," Helia said in a jesting tone. He was positive Riven had feelings for Musa, but he knew accusing Riven of it would be complete suicide, so maybe this would get Riven to finally open up.

"Get Riven to help with what?" Riven said with a smirk as he addressed Helia.

"Uhh well… why didn't you go to the ball?" Helia asked trying to avoid telling Riven that Musa was with another guy.

"What do you need help with?" Riven said turning to Brandon, ignoring Helia's question. He hadn't thought of an excuse to why he wasn't at the ball, he had been too busy thinking about Musa. What was worse was that they guys knew that he was going to go, he would have to think of something, or he could just ignore the question all together, it seemed to work for him.

"Do you know anyone who dressed in white for the ball?" Brandon asked

"Nope," Riven said. "Why?"

"No reason really we just didn't see him take off his mask and we were wondering" Brandon said. He too had a feeling Riven still had feelings for Musa.

"Okay, well this was fun, I've got homework" Riven said sarcastically as he walked into his room. Helia and Brandon looked at each other, shrugged, and continued with their work.

Riven entered his room and sighed. He could not get Musa out of his head, not that he wasn't used to always thinking about her, but now everything was different. He realized after the masquerade ball how bad his idea was. He thought that maybe after the ball, he would finally able to get over her, get some closure. But it only made things worse. He couldn't stop thinking about her, the way she smiled with mischievous glint in her eyes, the sound of her voice, the way her lips felt up against his. He loved that he could really talk to her and she would always listen. The masquerade ball was a perfect example of why he loved her so much. She was smart, funny, witty, and caring. Who wouldn't want to be with her?

He never thought anything could be this painful, but trying to move on from Musa was unbearable. The ball was also a perfect example of why he could never be with Musa. She was flirting and kissing some guy she didn't really know too well, which proved she wasn't thinking about him. And Darcy's attack just showed that Musa would never be safe with him, no matter how much he tried to protect her. But still, he would do anything to talk to her the way he talked to her that night. Talk to her and really let her know how he felt about her and of course, without her knowing it was really him.

That is when Riven got another idea. Musa had to be thinking about him, the other him, because there was no other reason Brandon would have asked about "the guy wearing white" , Stella must have called him about it, meaning Stella must have talked to Musa about him, meaning she must be thinking about him. Riven thought that over for a second and realized how complicated he had made things, if he had just told Musa it was him in the beginning, then things wouldn't be so twisted. On the other hand, the mask ball was an amazing night. It was worth it.

He sat down and thought of someway, anyway to talk to her the way they talked the night of the ball. He walked over to his computer and signed onto magix instant messenger.

"CREATE USERNAME" Riven thought for a second and immediately he knew how he could talk to Musa again.

**ALPHA**

Musa was on her computer trying to finish her school work and more importantly keep her mind off of Riven and her mystery man. It would be a lot easier if she didn't keep hearing Stella rave about how much fun the ball was before the witches arrived.

"Ding" Musa looked at the bottom of her computer screen; there was a message for her on the bottom of the screen. She looked at the username and smiled. She clicked on the message.

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **hey princess

**Looks like Musa still has a bit of mystery left to solve. What's gonna happen next?? **

**Please Review!! Tell me what is good or bad or what you like - - thanks!!**


	7. The End of the White Knight

**I do not own the Winx Club…**

**Thanks for the reviews!! - - So here's chapter 7 - - an interesting conversation between Musa and her not-so-mystery man. Hope you like it! **

**The End of The White Knight**

Immediately Musa knew who it was, its not like the username was too cryptic. A smile grew on her face and she stared at the screen trying to figure out what to say. She hadn't talked to him in a week and she was still a little upset that he hadn't even visited her. Then again, she was very happy to hear from him, at least he hadn't completely forgotten about her. She had to say something that would provoke a conversation. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't think of anything witty or cute to say. She typed out the first thing she could think of.

**MusicalMusa1010: **I thought you disappeared

Riven let out a sigh of relief. He was sure that Musa would be angry at him. He didn't know why he was so nervous but he felt his heart start to race. His hand was shaking, and she wasn't even around. _What is she doing to me?_ He thought. He had stopped denying to himself that Musa had an affect on him; he knew she did and he couldn't stop himself from feeling nervous around her. But, he was glad that she replied; it served to calm him down a little. _At least she's not angry at me_.

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **I didn't disappear, you just didn't see me

**MusicalMusa1010: **Well, what makes you think I'm not upset with you?

Musa was enjoying their playful banter and she thought it would be fun to mess with him a little, he did leave without saying goodbye.

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **I'm sorry, but I wanted you to get some rest

**MusicalMusa1010: **Aww, that was very nice of you, but I would have liked to know who you were before you left, you did save me.

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **I just caught you, I didn't save you

**MusicalMusa1010: **not taking credit for rescuing me, that's very modest of you.

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **Well, I try

**MusicalMusa1010: **I would like to thank you properly, but I still don't know you name.

Musa was not-so-subtly hinting to him to finally tell her his name. She was having fun flirting with him, but it was getting a bit old. She was getting pretty impatient, it had been a week and she didn't even know his name. At the same time, the whole mystery thing was pretty exciting, she felt like she was in some cute romantic movie. Of course, her romantic life was nothing like a movie, even when she was back home, her last romantic relationship ended badly…to say the least. She had always been a little protective with her heart since then.

She didn't know what it was about this guy, but she was nervous and excited at the same time. The same way she felt when she was around Riven. Except this time, it seemed like he was interested in her too.

Riven got the hint, it was hard not to. But, he had no idea what to say. He didn't want to tell her that he was never planning on revealing his true identity to her. But, he didn't want to string her along, that was completely unfair to her. It was also slowly killing him. He hated that he had to lie about who he was to get Musa to feel something more then friendship towards him. He wanted Musa to want him, the real him, but he knew it would never happen. And all this lying was going to hurt her and him as well.

Riven knew what he had to do, he had to stop the fake relationship he had with Musa. No matter how much he wanted to be able to talk to Musa as freely as he had when he was the white knight, he couldn't keep up the act. It hurt too much. He knew he could never be with Musa and pretending was just going to prolong his misery. She didn't deserve to be treated this way. She needed a real relationship and it was completely unfair of him to tease her like this.

Riven took a deep breath and sent her a message:

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **well princess this is goodbye

"Ding" Musa looked at her computer and saw there was a message from the white knight. _Goodbye? _She thought. _He can't be serious. _There was no way that he was just going to ignore her request, that would be ridiculous. He had to be joking around with her.She decided to send a flirty and sarcastic remark back; this was getting to be kinda fun.

**MusicalMusa1010: **Really? So no proper goodbye, I'm hurt

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **I didn't pin you for sarcastic

Musa was now sure he was kidding. He had to be joking, if he didn't want to talk to her then he would have signed off already.

**MusicalMusa1010: **Well I guess there's a lot you don't know about me

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **I wish I could find out more

She was now confused. _What is he talking about? He can find out more…we're talking right now!_ She was getting a little frustrated, she had no idea where she stood with him, this was strangely starting to resemble to her the relationship she had with Riven when they had first met.

**MusicalMusa1010: **Why cant you?

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **Out little mystery fun has to end now

**MusicalMusa1010: **Really? So I get to know your name

Musa was getting excited, practically bouncing up and down happily. She could finally know who the guy was behind the mask. Maybe her life would finally have a fairy-tale like twist, it not like she had many before, so this would definitely make up for the last week. She anxiously waited at her computer for a reply. It seemed like an eternity before she heard: "Ding" Musa looked at the computer with excitement.

Riven really didn't want to let her down like this, she seemed so excited and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, although he seemed to be very good at doing that. He tried to think of a way to put it as gently as he could. He really wanted to just tell her it was him, but he knew that would only lead to heartbreak for the both of them. Musa was definitely expecting someone else, and he didn't think he could handle Musa rejecting him. He could handle anything else, battle class, fighting anyone who dared provoke him, anything, but getting his deepest desires thrown in his face by the person he loved the most would be unbearable. And as long as Musa never really rejected him, he would always have a little hope that was all he could hang onto at this point.

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **I mean this can't go further

Musa stared at her computer completely shocked. She wasn't expecting this. Her heart dropped into her stomach and she felt sick. _What's going on? I thought he liked…._ Musa was upset, angry, confused – all at the same time. How could he do that to her? He had to know that she liked him, why else would a person flirt so much. It's not like she was used to doing it like Stella was. Her emotions were causing her stomach to churn and she felt like she was going to be sick any minute. But she tried to cover it up, there was no way she was going to let this guy know that he was hurting her.

**MusicalMusa1010: **Wow dumped online that's a new one, I thought you were a knight, aren't you supposed to have honor?

She didn't mean to sound spiteful, but the only emotion that she could understand at the time, well that and absolute anger. _How could he do that?_ She kept repeating in her mind. She had tried so hard to protect her heart, but now it was breaking, this was like her and Riven all over again, even though they never really had a relationship, but neither did she and whatever this guy's name was. She really didn't understand. They had such a good time together…right?

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **Trust me princess, you don't want to be with me

**MusicalMusa1010: **I can't decide that unless I know who you are

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **The white knight

**MusicalMusa1010: **Your real name

This was getting frustrating; she wanted to know so much and he was not answering any of the questions that she deserved to know. Why was he leaving all of a sudden? If he never planned on actually being honest with her, then why did act so…_friendly_ at the ball? WHO THE HELL WAS HE?

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **Look Musa, you are amazing. I mean it, I wish I didn't have to say goodbye, but I do.

He wanted her to know that he didn't want to do this, he had to. At the same time, he had to make it very clear that anything that they had between them was over. He could tell that he was confusing her, but he thought he put it pretty bluntly. Why didn't she want to accept it?

**MusicalMusa1010: **What?

**MusicalMusa1010: **Why do you have to say goodbye if you don't want to?

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **Some things are more important than my happiness

**MusicalMusa1010: **Like?

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **Yours

**MusicalMusa1010: **Do you know how ridiculous you sound?!? Sorry to ruin your little theory, but I was pretty happy with you at the ball.

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **You won't be happy with me for long and I can't hurt you; I won't

Riven felt horrible about everything. He should have never concocted this stupid plot, it was only hurting Musa, something he seemed to be really good at. He just wanted things to get back to the way they were, when he and Musa were friends and there weren't any complications, like this.

**MusicalMusa1010: **What makes you think you can hurt me? I can take are of myself.

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let it get this far.

Musa had no idea what to say, things were starting to sink in…_ Wait! Does he have feeling for me – real feelings? _If he does then he should _want _to make this work. _God I am so stupid! _She had let herself get caught up in him and now she was hurting because of that. She didn't know how to respond, all she managed to think of saying was

**MusicalMusa1010: **And…

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **It's unfair to lead you on

**MusicalMusa1010: **But,

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **I'm sorry, I really am, but you and I together would not be a good idea

**THEWHITEKNIGHT: **Goodbye princess

"**THEWHITEKNIGHT"** has signed off

Riven slammed his laptop closed and tried desperately to get a hold of his emotions. _It's for the best, I would never be able to be with her. She's too good for me and all I've ever done was hurt her. _Unfortunately for Riven, ending his alter ego's life did not stop the pain of losing Musa. He really loved her, but her happiness was much more important. He looked out his window in the direction of Alfea, pushed his hand through his hair and sighed.

"I'd never be able to make you happy," He whispered. The pain had become overwhelming, it was bad enough that he could not be with her, but he knew he would eventually have to see her with someone else. His friendship with her was all he had left and he would be damned if he let that slip through his fingers. He had to get over her even though he knew he wouldn't. _Being friends with her will be enough._ He tried to convince himself. _It has to be. _Riven looked out his window sadly finally coming to the awful realization that he would never have a shot, he would never have her.

­­­­­­­­

**ALFEA**

Musa sat at her computer with tears in her eyes. _Why do I even care? I barely know him, but he had feelings for me…right? Just forget about him._ She told herself to just forget about him, but it was so much easier said then done. She couldn't help but feel bitter, she knew that there were plenty of guys that were looking at her when she when out, but how come every time she was attracted to someone, they showed absolutely not interest. _I don't need him or Riven, I'll be fine, it doesn't matter – just forget about it. _She thought trying to comfort herself. She kept telling herself to just move on. Unfortunately for her, the two guys that she had actually liked were the only ones in Red Fountain that weren't interested.

"Talk about irony" Musa whispered to herself as she shut off her computer. She pulled herself off her chair and put her homework away neatly in her folder. She sighed heavily as she got into bed and tried to get some sleep.

**I would be so pissed if i were Musa...**

**Riven doesn't want to hurt her and Musa still doesn't know who "the white knight" really is - - - this can only lead to heartbreak….looks like both of them are sad now! **

**I'll update ASAP **

**Please Review - - - thanks!**


	8. Heartbroken

**Sorry this took awhile – lots of stuff has been going on - - anyway….**

**Here you go, another chapter - what happened after their conversation online. **

**Thanks for all the reviews!**

**Heartbroken**

The next morning Musa opened her eyes and gave a heavy sigh, she was still very upset from the conversation she had the night before with whoever her mystery man was. Well, he wasn't hers, he made that very clear the night before. She got out of bed and got ready for her first day of classes after her week absence. She gathered her books and turned on her computer. She looked at her "Magix Instant Messenger". She did not receive any messages, well not any that she really cared about. She gave a shrug and quietly walked to the bathroom quietly, she didn't want to wake Techna, who was still sleeping soundly in her bed.

Musa walked slowly to class, she had managed to not only get hurt during the fight with the witches, but she also managed to get sick during her recovery. She felt a little woozy, but she was sure it would pass. She just wanted to get out of her room and do something that would take her mind off of everything that happened over the past week. She just needed to clear her mind. Griselda's mind-numbing lecture on potions worked well to hold her interest, for about 10 seconds. Musa, along with the half of the class, drifted off to sleep. Her mind drifted to Riven and the masked stranger she met at the ball.

Musa's Dream 

She smiled as she dreamt. She was at the ball and dancing with her masked knight. He brushed the hair out of her face and stroked her cheek, just as he did in reality. Then, lowered his head and lightly kissed her on the lips. She looked into his eyes and kissed him passionately. She then ran her fingers through his hair and untied the mask. He grabbed his mask and pulled it off. And Musa smiled as she looked at Riven.

"Surprise," He said with a smile as she gazed into her beautiful blue eyes, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I knew it was you," Musa said with a defiant look on her face.

"Good, I didn't want you to be thinking about some other guy," Riven said as he rested his forehead on hers.

"Nah, I only think about you," Musa said with a smile

"Good, because I love you," He said as he pulled away from her so he could look into her eyes. Musa flung her arms around Riven's neck and kissed him again. "I love you too!" she said happily as she pulled away and looked back into his amazing violet eyes.

"Musa….Musa….MISS MUSA," Musa's eyes flew open when she heard Griselda yelling at her from the front of her room. She quickly sat up and realized the entire class was looking at her. Flora turned and looked at Musa.

"Are you okay?" Flora asked looking the flushed look on Musa's face.

"Yea, I'm fine," Musa said. "Sorry, I don't feel too good right now," Musa said apologetically to Griselda.

"I'll let you go on this one since you have been recovering for the past week," Griselda said. "You don't look to good, Flora will you please escort princess Musa to Nurse Ofelia's office?"

"Sure," Flora said as she and Musa left the room. Musa was definitely not happy, she was upset that she was pulled out of her amazing dream, and then made a spectacle of in front of her entire class, and now she was back to Ofelia's office. "Are you sure you're okay, you seemed really upset in class and all day," Flora asked with a very concerned look on her face.

"I just, I don't know, this whole thing with the mask ball and the guy and everything has really been kicking my ass," Musa admitted to Flora. She knew Flora wouldn't tell anyone, or let something slip out. She really did want to talk about it with someone and Flora had always been a good listener.

When the two reached Ofelia's office, she urged Musa to lay down for a bit, but she allowed Flora to sit with her. Musa and Flora decided that this was a great idea, they got to miss class and they got to talk, win – win.

"So, tell me what's wrong," Flora asked. Musa went on to tell Flora the entire story about what happened the night before. "Oh gosh, you know what; there isn't anything you can do about this so I think you just need to forget about him."

"I know I do, but I don't know, I really think I fell for this guy and now it's all over, even though it never really was a relationship. I don't know I feel kinda...," Musa stopped, she didn't really know how she was feeling.

"Heartbroken?" Flora finished for her. Flora had seen that look on her best friends' face before, specifically freshman year when Riven was with Darcy.

"Yea, I guess so," Musa said turning away from Flora and looking out the window. "But, okay you have to promise not to tell anyone this," Musa said turning back to Flora with a very serious look on her face.

"Promise," Flora said.

"I kept imagining that the guy from the ball was…" Musa really didn't want to say this aloud, she knew that when she did, she would have to deal with it and get over him, a task she still couldn't accomplish even though it had been 3 years since she met him.

"Riven?" Flora finished for her once again, this time with a small smile on her face.

"Is it that obvious?" Musa asked

"No, actually you pretty much have everyone fooled, even me for a little while, but I see the way you look at him, same way Stella looks at Brandon, Bloom to Sky…" She was going to go on, but he noticed that the examples were not helping to make her friend feel better.

"Look Flora, I'm fine, really I am, I think I just need some time alone to just relax," Musa said as she got up. "Since we both have the day off, I think I'm going to go and have some alone time, why don't you go see Helia or something,"

Flora smiled and nodded. "Thanks Flora, I really needed that," Musa said as they walked out of Ofelia's office.

"What are friends for?" Flora said with a smile as they walked away from each other.

**Red Fountain**

"So, word of advice," Sky began as he limped into the common room with the help of Brandon. Helia looked up to see Brandon helping Sky into the room, and Sky looked like he had a rough day.

"What happened?" Timmy said as he looked away from his laptop cutting Sky off before he could begin explaining what happened.

"Riven," Brandon answered. "He has been in a mood all morning and Sky was lucky enough to get assigned as his sparring partner in battle training." Brandon continued sarcastically. Sky sat on the couch and looked at the other guys.

"Any idea what's got him so worked up?" Helia asked as he looked up from his sketch book.

"Not a clue, he seemed perfectly fine yesterday, well "fine" in Riven terms," Sky said as let out a heavy sigh.

Just then Riven walked in to see everyone staring at him. He was going to respond with some snide remark, but he had too many things on his mind. He then saw Sky and decided to apologize, or at least give Sky his version of an apology, he was taking out his frustration on his friends after all.

"Sorry about that," Riven said as he looked over to Sky.

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine, but are you okay?" Sky asked with a genuine look of concern. That was when Riven noticed all the guys were waiting for him to respond, he figured out that they must have already discussed his not-so-friendly behavior, he wasn't surprised. He had managed to make friends with the some of the most loyal guys in Red Fountain which was still surprised him since he knew that he wasn't the easiest person to get along with.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." Riven said. He then turned around and headed straight to his room. He noticed Helia's disappointed face on his way into his room. _Were they really expecting me to open up and share my feelings? _He thought. They had to be used to the fact that he didn't like to show his emotions. He hated putting himself out there, where he was vulnerable. He just walked into his room and decided to focus on his school work, although it he knew it would be futile, his mind always seemed to wander to Musa.

When Riven got into his room he shut the door behind him and prayed that his roommate wouldn't come in after him and badger him until he couldn't take it anymore. Unfortunately, he had no such luck. Helia walked in after Riven, sat on his chair and continued to sketch in his notebook. Riven ignored him and grabbed his textbook and began to study for a test he had the next day, pretending to be unaware of the real reason Helia had followed him into their room.

After ten minutes of uncomfortable silence Helia finally spoke up. He knew that he would eventually get Riven to open up. "So what's really been bugging you?"

"Nothing I'm fine," Riven said not lifting his eyes from his paper. He did not feel like talking about anything, not only that, but to really open up he would have to tell Helia about his feelings for Musa and he had worked very hard over the past couple of years to keep that a secret. Plus, if he shared that information it probably wouldn't be long till Flora found out, meaning the rest of the girls, including Musa, would find out as well. Riven could talk about anything else with Helia, but not this, it was too risky, if Musa found out everything would be ruined. He knew that Helia and Flora told each other everything, it was nauseating. And secretly, Riven was jealous. He wished he could have a relationship like that with Musa, where they could tell each other everything and share their secrets. But, it would never happen so he had to stop dwelling on the fantasy.

"Really, because I think Sky wouldn't agree," Helia commented as a rebuttal.

"Look, I understand that you're just trying to help, but I really don't want to talk about it," Riven said as he opened his nightstand drawer to grabbed his keys, he couldn't help but notice that his mask was in there too. With a quick look of sorrow Riven slammed the drawer shut, after grabbing his keys. "I'll see you later," He said as he walked out of the room.

Helia shook his head and continued to work on his sketches, he was sure Riven would come around, he just needed some time.

Musa walked out of Alfea and then wandered off Alfea grounds. She didn't even realized where she was walking, there were too many things racing through her mind. She wandered through the enchanted forest and ended up at silent falls. She decided that since she was there, that she would at least enjoy the view. She sat at the base of a huge oak tree and let the gentle breeze caress her face. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back against the tree. She thought a lot about her talk with Flora. She was really angry at the guy she was with at the ball; he totally made a fool out of her. She decided to take Flora's advice; she needed to get over that guy. She only knew him for a week, actually one night; he chose to ignore her for one week. Musa closed her eyes, felt the breeze, and took a deep breath. She looked out in front of her and just stared trying to just stop thinking about everything. Clear her mind and just relax.

Riven quickly got on his bike and left Red Fountain, he traveled at a break neck speed, trying to somehow go so fast that not even his thoughts could catch up to him. He just needed some time to get his emotions under control again. After the ball he had been anxious and excited at the same time. He was worried that there was some way Musa would find out it was him behind the white mask, at the same time he wanted her to find out, even though he knew that would open up a huge can of worms.

He just needed to focus on school and remember his place. He was nowhere near good enough for Musa, she was a princess for gods sake! He could do this, he had managed to keep his emotions at bay for the past three years and he only had to keep this up until the end of the year, then he wouldn't be around her as much and maybe he would be get over her, or at the very least the temptation would not always be around. _Out of sight, out of mind…right? _He had been trying to convince himself all day that everything would be fine, he would get over her, he kept telling himself. _I just need to forget about everything that happened, it was a stupid idea, we can and will be friends and that's good enough for me. _He was not going to let this bother him anymore; he was determined to discipline himself into not loving her, no matter how ridiculous that sounded.

Riven pulled up to Silent Falls and he noticed that someone was sitting in the spot he normally sat. He stared at the girl for a second before he realized it was Musa. He wanted to go to her, but that would totally undermine his efforts to get over her, he needed to separate himself from her for a little bit so things could get back to normal. He stood there for a second and realized that she wasn't moving.

Riven panicked and automatically assumed the worst. He ran to her side and knelt down next to her. He lightly tapped her shoulder. "Musa, hey Musa are you okay?" He asked as his heart sank when she wasn't responding. Then, he saw her eyes slowly open as she yawned. He couldn't help but smile, she looked adorable when she was waking up, an inappropriate part of him wondered what it would be like to wake up next to her, he brushed the tactless thought away as she looked down at her to make sure she was alright.

"Hey princess" he said with a smile as she looked up at and smiled.

Musa looked up at Riven and she couldn't help but think he sounded so familiar. She would have thought about it further if she wasn't completely on edge because Riven was looking straight at her.

**I know kinda boring, but I needed this chapter to set up the next one **

**Please review! Thanks a bunch**

**I have the rest of the story completely mapped out so it's just a matter of typing, so the rest of the chapter should be up soon. **


	9. There's No Escape

**Thanks for the awesome feedback – All the feedback really helps so thanks!**

**What happened when the two lovebirds saw each other in the forest…. CHAPTER 9!**

**There's No Escape**

"Oh…umm…hey," She said as she blushed, she had no idea what to say and she was still a bit dizzy so she couldn't think straight. Riven noticed that she looked a little sick, so he automatically helped her when he noticed when she was trying to pull herself up,

"Are you okay," Riven asked with obvious concern in his voice. He didn't care how he sounded, Musa was defiantly not alright and he all he could think about was helping her get back to Alfea and into the nurse's office. He knew that no matter what happened, he would always be there to help her, it was the least he could do considering.

"Yeah, I'm just a little dizzy," She began as she leaned up against a tree for support as her eyes met Riven's. Her heart began to race. "I haven't been feeling too great since the ball, you know that whole witch thing." She continued and then stopped when she remembered that Riven wasn't at the ball. "Wait, why didn't you go to the mask ball?"

Riven felt stupid when he had absolutely no response, he still hadn't thought of a decent excuse for why he wasn't even at the ball, even though he was at the ball. "I didn't feel well, and I fell asleep." _PATHETIC! _He thought to himself. There was no way that she was going to believe him, but then he saw Musa nod and he just let it go. He knew that she didn't believe him, but he was not going to dig himself into an even deeper hole by trying to explain.

"Oh well, I'm sure you heard about the - " Musa began only to be cut off by Riven.

"Yeah, I did sorry I didn't visit you," Riven said as he looked down toward his shoes. He still felt enormous guilt for everything that happened; he wished he really had just stayed home that night.

"It's okay, the girls were there 24/7, I was never alone," Musa said with a smile and a bit of sarcasm, she had wished to see Riven, but she wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. Besides, it was obvious that he cared and that was all she could really ask for.

"Well, that's good; shouldn't you be resting right now, if you don't feel well?" Riven asked because she looked like she was going to pass out any second. He had an overwhelming desire to pick her up in his arms and carry her to Alfea, to be her knight in shining armor and sweep her off her feet.

"Yeah you're probably right," She began and she stopped leaning on the tree and stood up in an attempt to walk. "I think I'll go back to Alfea."

"Here, let me take you, you're dizzy you shouldn't be walking around," Riven said as he grabbed hold of her hand gently. _It won't mean anything, she shouldn't be walking, she could fall or get hurt. _He told himselfHis heart was going a mile a minute, but he was more concerned on getting Musa getting back to Alfea.

Musa began to blush when he held her hand. She liked the fact that he was concerned about her. And even though she had been feeling horrible all week, this was definitely making up for it. She smiled and nodded. "What would I do without you?" Musa said with as she let out a small laugh. "Thank you" She said, _it would be so perfect if he felt the same way I do. _She thought.

"No problem," Riven said. He was looking at her and he couldn't help but stare. She had been sick for a week and she still looked stunning. When Musa looked up her eyes locked onto his. They both just stood there, Riven still holding her hand, staring into each others' eyes. He was completely entranced by her, and although he was nervous beyond belief he couldn't help but tuck the hair that was in her face behind her ear.

Musa was practically pressed up against the tree and all she could think about was how the smallest touch from Riven made her go crazy. They stared at each other intently, until Riven did something he never thought he would do. After tucking her hair back, Riven gently stroked her cheek and smiled. She smiled back and then Riven did something he had been dieing to do since the ball. He bent his head down and slowly brought his lips to hers. _Just do it! You love her, screw everything else, you need her. _He thought. Musa knew what he was about to do and she just stood happily waiting.

Unfortunately, before he could kiss her, the couple was interrupted.

"Oh I'm sorry, it looks like I'm interrupting something," Darcy said with a venomous look. Darcy was floating in the air just above the two. She had an evil smirk playing on her lips. Riven protectively got in front of Musa, he was not going to let Darcy let her again. "Well, I really hate to interrupt love, but I have some business to settle with the little princess here."

"Go away Darcy, you're never going to win, get over it," Musa yelled from behind Riven before she walked up and stood next to him. Riven wanted to yell at the big mouthed fairy, she wasn't helping at all by provoking the crazy witch and what was worse was she was sick and Darcy would not doubt take advantage of that.

"I don't remember losing, because from where I was standing, you were the one on the ground," Darcy said as she flew into the air and threw an attack at Musa. Musa managed to jump away from the attack just in time. She quickly transformed into her Winx and tried desperately to look like she was fine as she flew into the air.

"I don't know why you always come after me, is it because secretly you miss me? I'm touched," Musa said with sarcasm.

"Let's just say you have something that belongs to me," Darcy said with a smirk as the two began to battle. There was a cloud of dust that was kicked up from both of their attacks. Musa managed to get a couple of critical hits on Darcy, unfortunately the battle was taking a major toll on her.

Riven just stood on the ground in complete anger. He had to, once again, watch Musa fight Darcy, this time Musa was weak and Riven knew that she wouldn't last very long against Darcy, especially because Darcy would be relentless due to Musa's big mouth.

"And by the way, you had a lucky shot," Musa screamed. "Maximum Volume!" she screamed, an attack that was usually very effective, but due to Musa's current state, the attack barely did anything. In addition, Musa's vision began to go blurry.

Darcy let out a maniacal laugh. "Really princess? Is that all you have, I was actually hoping for a fight," Darcy then geared up for another attack. Musa was could barely stay in the air. Darcy's attack came straight at Musa. "Damn it Musa move!" Riven cried from the ground as he watched in absolute terror. Musa had absolutely no strength to even move, she had used all there energy so when the attack hit her, it was over.

Riven watched once again as the love of his life plummeted to the ground. He ran to get her quickly and caught her just as he had at the ball. He was so angry at himself, every time he got close to her, this happened.

The only good thing that came out of this was that the attack managed to create a lot of smoke. This was the perfect cover for Riven to carry Musa out of there. He really wanted to kill Darcy, but Musa was more important and she needed help right away. He had is phantoblade in one hand and he was also cradling Musa as he ran quickly to his leva bike.

"Now where do you think your going puppy dog?" Darcy said as she suddenly appeared. "You didn't think I would let you off that easy," A smirk now played her lips. Riven said nothing all he did was take his phantoblade and drove it into her abdomen, usually Riven would never hurt a woman, but Darcy and her sisters were the only exceptions.

Darcy fell to the ground and looked up at Riven in surprise; she never truly thought that "rough-tough" actually Riven had it in him to stand up to her. He looked at her with absolute disgust. "I swear to god, if anything happens to her, I'll hunt you down and finish this," Riven said as he turned attention to Musa and got onto his bike.

He propped her up on his lap and sped as quickly as he could to Red Fountain. "Hold on, you'll be okay, I promise," Riven said to Musa, not that she could hear him. Riven's heart had dropped into his stomach and he had never felt sicker in his life. _She's okay, nothing will happen, she'll be okay._ Riven wished that he was right, but Musa was in a lot worse shape then before and he was too sensible to let himself get his hopes up with false hopes. But he had to keep up hope, he needed her to be okay, she was his life.

Riven pushed the petal as hard as he could. He was traveling faster then he ever had before, but all he could do was reassure Musa that she was fine. Finally, he pulled into Red Fountain; he hoped off his bike and prayed he wasn't too late.

**Oh no! Will Musa make it?? You will have to wait and see! Haha suffer!**

**Re****view Please! **

**P.S. – sorry about any grammatical errors, I really wanted to get this chapter up so I read through it quickly. **


	10. Stay With Me

**Thanks for reviewing – sorry for the wait, everything has been crazy lately – thanks for the patience! **

**So is Musa going to make it? Here you go…chapter 10**

**Stay With Me **

Riven ran onto Red Fountain grounds with Musa in his arms. She was bleeding everywhere and he could see her getting paler. He was in complete panic as he ran to the school, then he saw Brandon walking outside with Stella.

"BRANDON!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, an act the nearly made the squire choke on the water he was drinking. Brandon and Stella turned to see who was yelling and saw Riven. He was holding a very bloody Musa. With panic stricken faces, the couple ran to him.

"What the hell happened?" Brandon asked as he took Musa from Riven's exhausted arms. He looked down at Musa and he looked as if he was going to be sick. She was in very bad shape and he was very concerned to say the least. Stella stood there in complete shock. Her best friend had just recovered from an attack and now this!

"Darcy attacked her at Silent Falls," Riven said as the trio ran into the school and straight to the infirmary. When inside the infirmary, the school nurse took Musa and ordered that the three wait outside, or go back to class.

They decided to wait for any news on Musa's condition. "So what exactly happened?" Stella asked calmly as she could, she was freaking out, but she had noticed that Riven face looked like it was agonized with worry.

"I went to Silent Falls and I ran into Musa there, we were talking for like 5 minutes and then Darcy attacked us…or well her," Riven said looking at the ground. He was overwhelmed with worry and guilt. _What if she doesn't make it? I can't live without her. She doesn't deserve this! Its all my fault – she's in there because of me. _So many emotions and thoughts were spiraling through Riven's head. His whole world was crashing down in front of him as he waited to learn the fate of Musa.

"That witch is dead," Brandon said with hate in his voice. Stella rubbed his back; he seemed to be almost as upset as her. She knew Musa was like the baby of the group. All the guys were protective of her, Brandon especially, she was like the little sister he never had. "Did she get away?" Brandon asked as he looked up from the floor.

"Not sure, I stabbed her and left her on the ground, I was more concerned with getting Musa to safety," Riven said almost regretting that he didn't finish the witch off when he had the chance. He knew that if he had killed Darcy, that Musa would never be hurt by her again. He wanted to protect Musa and make up for everything he had done to her.

"You did the right thing, you saved Musa and that witch definitely had it coming," Stella said trying to comfort him, although nothing anyone said could comfort him. He needed to see Musa back to normal and then he would feel better.

The three sat there completely silent for almost 2 hours. Stella then stood up and decided to call the rest of the girls. She had finally been able to gain some composure and all the waiting was driving her crazy. Brandon also left to go get some air and then tell the other guys about what had happened, leaving Riven alone.

As Riven sat on the chair outside the infirmary, he was completely immersed in his thoughts. So many things were racing through his mind when the nurse walked out and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up and quickly stood up, hoping for good news. "How is she, is she going to be okay?" Riven blurt out.

"She is stable now, but she's going to need surgery," She began. "It's good that you got her here when you did, you saved her life."

Riven looked down and thought about how wrong everyone was. He didn't save Musa, he was the reason that she was in such bad shape. "Will she be alright, I mean after the surgery?" Riven said trying to keep the fact that he was going to have an emotional breakdown any minute, out of his voice.

"It's too soon to tell, but you can go in and see her," The nurse informed Riven then walked away. _At least she's awake. _Riven thought.

Riven opened the door to the room Musa was in slowly. He was so scared to see Musa, he wasn't even sure that she was going to be alright or not. _She needs surgery, and even then there's no guarantee that she'll be okay. _Riven felt like he was about to be sick, he wanted to get away, go back in time to before the stupid ball, he would never initially hurt Musa, and possibly stop this horrible cascade of events from occurring.

He walked in and closed the door, all without lifting his eyes from the ground, he felt too unworthy to look at her. Finally, unable to resist looking at her, he walked over to the side of her bed and sat down on a chair by her bedside. She was asleep, or unconscious, he wasn't sure, he was initially a little shocked when he saw that she wasn't awake, but considering the circumstances it made sense. He couldn't help but smile a little, just being in the same room as her made him happy, but the feeling dissipated quickly when he noticed all the injuries she had. He looked at her, she had bandages on her forehead, and bandaged ran all down her left shoulder to her elbow. And all of this was the bandaging he could see in plain sight. He gave a heavy sigh and held her hand in his while he stroked her cheek.

"I'm really sorry, but you have to know that I never wanted you to get hurt," Riven told the slumbering fairy. "You mean so much to me, but it's becoming painfully obviously that I am no good for you. I really care about you - you're everything to me." He had finally admitted his feelings to Musa, sure she was out cold and would never even know that he was in there, but still this was a step and hopefully the confession of these emotions would lead to him overcoming them.

Then, Riven thought about what would have happened if Darcy hadn't interrupted. He would have kissed her, the way he kissed her that night when he was wearing his mask, and probably have ruined his friendship with Musa forever. He couldn't let stupid actions like that happen again, and for Musa's sake it would probably be best if he slowly stopped seeing her as much. Suddenly, he had trouble catching his breath. Just the thought of it made Riven feel like he was dieing, the thought of being away from her made his heart clench. But, he had to put those feelings aside, he was positive that he never wanted to see Musa like this again. He didn't know if Darcy was still around or not, but he was sure that after he stabbed her, Darcy would be even more relentless against Musa. When Riven thought about it, he found it pretty ironic that the one person he hated the most was the only person who knew his true feelings for Musa. Darcy knew that his feelings for Musa were able to break the spell she had on him. And unfortunately for Riven, Darcy was the type of crazy person to exact revenge on him by hurting Musa.

"You have to be okay, you have to…" Riven continued when his voice broke with emotion, he could feel his eyes begin to water, although he knew he would never let the tears fall.

Riven then looked out the window and saw the Winx Club girls rushing towards the school. He didn't want anyone to see him this broken up so he tried to pull himself together and got ready to leave. He didn't want to go; he wanted to stay by her side until she woke up.

"If you promise to get better, then I promise to never do anything to hurt you again," Riven knew that if he wanted to never hurt her again, he would have to stay away from her, since he seemed to do something wrong every time he was around her. He could now hear the heels of Musa's frantic friends approaching. He stood up and looked at Musa, and then he bent down and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you," he said as looked at her, wishing he could tell her when she could actually hear him. "Just get better, okay?"

Riven walked to the door, and took a deep breath, glanced at the mirror to make sure he looked like his face didn't show what he was feeling inside. He opened the door was half way out when he gave Musa one last look, "You can pull through this, I know you can," he said before he was barraged with a million questions from Musa's friends.

**Outside the Red Fountain Infirmary**

"Is she okay? Is she awake, can we see her?" Riven had just shut the door to Musa's room when all the girls ran to him and asked him a million questions at once. Riven gave the boys a look of annoyance and they got the hint, so they tried, in vain, to calm their girlfriends.

"Girls, why don't you sit down and calmly ask your questions," Ms. Faragonda asked as she walked into the waiting area where they were all sitting. "Saladin told me what happened," she began as she turned to Riven "thank you for helping our Musa, who knows what would have happened had you not been there to save her." She then calmly let the girls ask their questions in an orderly fashion, even though she was dieing to blurt out the questions she had.

Riven explained to the group everything the nurse had told him, he managed to keep his composure, which was more than what could be said for the girls, all of which had either started crying or were tearing up. "You guys can go see her, but one at a time, I just saw her and she's sleeping," Riven said as he looked to the floor. Flora was the first to go in and see Musa and then Riven left and went outside.

He tried desperately to clear his head; he was driving himself crazy thinking about what might happen to Musa. He sat out on a bench and tried to keep a positive outlook, he knew Musa was a fighter and she could have easily beaten Darcy if she wasn't sick. She would make it out perfectly fine, Riven had to believe that or he would surely drive himself crazy waiting to find out how the surgery went. He sat outside looking out to the horizon until the sun began to set.

Helia walked outside and sat next to Riven. Everyone was taking the whole incident really hard, but Riven seemed to be a lot worse off then others. It may have been because he was there to actual witness what happened, or it could have been what Helia really suspected, Riven had feelings for Musa that he had kept hidden from the group.

"She'll be alright," Helia said as he looked out in the direction Riven was looking.

"It's my fault," Riven said not moving his gaze the slightest.

"Come on you saved her - " Helia began when he noticed Riven had already gotten up and began to walk away. Helia was, once again, so close to getting him to open up and then Riven shut him out.

Riven walked into the forest and wandered around for awhile. He then took a seat on the grass and buried his head in his hands. He was there until dark and he finally walked back to school. He couldn't think straight, everything had changed. Nothing seemed to be able to clear his mind; he thought he might help to see her again before she went into surgery, hopefully she would look a little better, making him feel alittle better..

Riven sat by her bedside until he saw the sun beginning to rise, she had become less pale. _That was a good sign, right? _Riven thought to himself. He kissed her on the forehead and went back to his room before anyone found him in the infirmary this early.

**AHHH! Suspense! Will Musa be alright or will I decide to kill her off? - haha I already know!! **

**Please Review – THANKS! **

**I promise I'll try to finish this story by the end of the month but I'm also working on my next story so it may take awhile. **


	11. Even the Best Laid Plans Unravel

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**The surgery is over, but are there going to be tears of joy or pain?**

**Here you go – Chapter 11!**

**Even the Best Laid Plans Unravel**

Riven waited outside the infirmary with Helia waiting for Musa to come out of surgery. All of Musa's friends were ordered to return to classes after having the previous day off to see her. Riven and Helia had finished their respective classes and were now waiting to

hear any news on Musa's condition.

It seemed like every doctor in Magix was rushing in and out of the room Musa was in, and Riven was growing very impatient. The two boys were then told by a doctor that she was out of surgery and a nurse would be around soon to tell them what was going on. A few minutes later, a nurse approached the two. "Musa is resting, the surgery went well," She said with a smile. "We expect her to make a full recovery."

Riven's face lit up as he gave a sigh of relief. Musa was going to be alright, he felt an unbelievable amount of excitement; he wanted to see her so badly.

Riven wanted to go in first, he was definitely the most anxious and Helia knew that there was something going on between Musa and Riven, so he wasn't going to get in the way of anything. He was going to do the opposite. "Hey man you can sit with he till the girls come and then I'll see her later," Helia said as he turned to Riven. Riven raised an eyebrow and Helia quickly responded. "I feel kinda weird being in there alone, so I'll wait till Flora gets here." Helia lied, he was perfectly fine seeing Musa alone, but this would allow Riven to be alone with Musa for awhile, which would hopefully help him feel better about the whole ordeal.

"Uhh, okay," Riven said as he opened the door to Musa's room and as Helia turned around and went back to their room. He wasn't going to argue with Helia, he loved the fact that he could spend more time with Musa, even though the plan was to stop seeing her as much. He could start doing that tomorrow, for today he was going to take solace in the fact that Musa was going to fully recover.

Riven walked into Musa's room, but this time with a smile, he knew Musa was going to be alright, nothing had ever made him this happy. He looked to her; she was lying in her bed, awake. All of a sudden Riven became incredibly nervous; he had no idea what to say. He wanted to apologize about everything, but her smile just made him want to talk to her for awhile.

"Hey" Musa said as she saw Riven walking to her bedside.

"Hey yourself, how are you feeling?" Riven said as he walked over to the same chair he sat in before. He unconsciously took her hand in his, not even realizing that he had done it.

"I've been better," she said with a smile. She couldn't remember anything that happened after she drifted off to sleep at Silent Falls. She did however remember tid-bits of information and she could recall glimpses of her battle with Darcy. She figured the witch had come to fight her again, and it was a bit of a pride killer that she was defeated by the witch again. And there was one memory she had been replaying in her mind ever since she woke up. _Did we almost kiss? It felt so real – was it a dream? _That was the only thing she was questioning since the run in with the witch. She was, however, quite curious as to why she was at Red Fountain instead of Alfea. "But considering the circumstances, I feel a lot better. And I may be able to go back to Alfea soon, if the healing spells work well." She finished with another smile.

"That's great, but we will miss you around here," Riven said with genuine happiness in his voice.

She couldn't help but be on cloud nine. Riven was visiting her! This had to mean that he cared, he was here with her and there seemed to be a look of genuine concern etched on his face. She was lying there and she noticed that Riven had taken her hand, she didn't care about the events that had occurred that landed her in the infirmary at Red Fountain, she was almost glad that she was injured. Riven was being especially nice to her, and even though the logical part of her was telling her it was because she had just suffered an attack, the hopelessly in love part of her was telling her that he was there because he genuinely cared for and missed her.

Riven didn't want to bring up the whole ordeal with Darcy, so he asked her about her music and things that she could feel comfortable talking about. Eventually, the two had moved past the initial awkwardness and were having a natural conversation, like the kind they had before Riven complicated everything at the ball.

Even though they were getting along very well, Riven knew that this couldn't last long. It had almost become a pattern with their relationship. Things would finally get back to normal, they would be close and begin to open up to each other, and then something would happen that would hurt Musa. He couldn't keep doing that to her, it wasn't fair and she deserved better. Someone that was good enough for her and that would take care of her. Unfortunately, he couldn't work up the will power to tear himself away from Musa. He knew he had to, and he would, just not today.

"Riven, can I ask you a question?" Musa said as she looked at his ruggedly handsome face.

"Yea of course," Riven said as he smiled back at her.

"How did I get to Red Fountain?" She asked. Her real question was replaced with that one. She really wanted to know if anything had happened between them before the attack, but she was way too scared to ask.

"Oh well – " Riven began only to be cut off by the infirmary door swinging open. Musa and Riven looked up and saw a group of rapturous fairies panting as if they had ran there. Truthfully, Riven didn't want to answer, he didn't want Musa's gratitude, _I don't deserve it. _He thought.

"MUSA!!!" they all screamed in unison, a certain princess of solaria was definitely the loudest. Before Riven could answer her question, he was pushed away from Musa's bedside and replaced by her five ecstatic best friends.

"Oh my god! How are you feeling?" Flora began and smiled in delight.

"Do you need anything?" Layla asked immediately afterwards

"You look great for someone who just came out of surgery." Stella said not letting Musa answer any of the questions being thrown at her.

"Guys calm down," Techna said.

"Thanks Tech," Musa began as she smiled "I feel a lot better; the doctor actually told me I'll be able to go back to Alfea tonight if all the healing spells work," She informed her friends.

"That's awesome Musa! But I'm sure all the guys will miss you," Bloom said in a jesting tone.

"Haha yeah, a school full of boys and one girl, I like those odds," Stella said as she began to giggle.

Musa smiled as all of her friends gathered around her bed. She was finally feeling better, like her old self, before the ball. She still had butterflies in her stomach because of Riven, but other than that she was happy again.

Because of all the commotion that erupted in the room, nobody noticed Riven slip out quietly. He decided to let Musa talk with her friends, they had all missed her and were constantly skipping class to check up on her, not that he wasn't doing the same thing. Even though he knew he had to start moving on and moving away from Musa, he could not have felt happier. She was awake and talking and recovering, what more could he ask want? Well, he wanted a lot more than that, but this was enough. He walked back to his room where he found Helia with a notebook in hand, sketching something.

"You seem happy," Helia said as he looked up at his roommate and then back down to his drawing.

"Musa's awake if you wanna see her," Riven said still not able to shake the smile that painted his face. Helia looked up from his drawing and saw a very different Riven. He was happy, genuinely happy, not the pretend happy that he had often used to mask his true emotions. When he thought about it, the pretend happy always seemed to come out as mean and sarcastic, but Helia knew that deep down Riven was never really that guy.

"That's great, but why aren't you down there?" Helia said as he got up to go see Musa.

"The girls are down there and things got loud and a bit crowded, so I came up here," Riven explained as he walked over to his bed and began to start the homework he'd been putting off for the last couple of days. "You can go see her, but I doubt that you'll be able to get a word in since all the girls are down there," Riven said.

"I'll take my chances," Helia said as he got up and walked out of the room.

**Red Fountain Infirmary**

Musa had been talking to the girls when all the guys came in, except Riven. Musa smiled at all of them as she sat up in bed. Due to the healing spells put on her directly after surgery, Musa didn't have many of the bandages she had on earlier.

"You look better," Sky said to Musa as he put his arms around Bloom.

"Great actually, I am gonna get the last bunch of healing spells in an hour, and I'll probably be outta her by dinner," she said.

"Wow, someone's eager to get out of here," Brandon teased.

"Well of coarse she is, she missed us!" Stella squealed from Brandon's arms.

Musa laughed and couldn't help but notice that everyone was coupled up, except Layla, but things between her and some new kid were getting serious. _His name is Nabu, I think_ she thought to herself. She really wished that Riven was still sitting next to her, holding her hand. Thinking back to earlier that morning made Musa smile even more, she may not have Riven as a boyfriend, but she was still reasonably content with their relationship. He was always there for her; he even saved her life, again.

The girls had told her the story that Riven told Stella and Brandon the day before. He had saved her and she couldn't let go of the romantic notion of Riven saving her because he was in love her or something along those lines. She then thought about the image of her and Riven ready to kiss at Silent Falls. She was still debating whether it was real.

"Yes I did," Musa said trying to shake the thought of Riven holding her close and kissing her.

Then the door open and a doctor came in. "How are you feeling princess?" He asked as he gestured for her friends to leave, Musa waved bye and the doctor shut the door.

"Better, but I want to go back to Alfea!" She complained.

"Well don't worry," the doctor began. "You will be getting the last healing spells now and after they take effect you are free to leave, and you should fully recovery by the end of the week, but you will start feeling increasingly better immediate after." The doctor informed Musa.

Musa smiled from ear to ear, things were finally getting better.

**Later that Day **

Musa stood up from the bed she had been in and stretched. It felt amazing to be able to walk around and not be stuck in a bed. She felt amazing. The nurse had just left the room after telling her that she was allowed to leave, but she should still take it easy for the next couple of days. Musa gladly accepted those terms. As she got dressed she looked around the room making sure she didn't forget anything.

"Looks like I've got everything," She said as she grabbed her ipod that Bloom brought for her so she didn't get too bored. She walked out of the room and began to walk the hallways of Red Fountain. She remembered how much she hated walking them alone, an act that guaranteed many pathetic attempts to "woo" her by guys trying getting a date with her. Whenever she came with the girls, the same thing happened, but with more than one person around, it was easier to deal with.

She had reached the entrance to Red Fountain when she realized she hadn't seen Riven since that morning. It seemed like an eternity ago. _I should say goodbye, it would be very rude if I didn't. _ She thought to herself as she heard Tune's voice in her head. _Besides I haven't thanked him for saving my life. _At this point Musa was just making excuses to herself so she could feel less desperate about wanting to see Riven. She stopped at the entrance of the school and decided to turn around and go pay a visit to her favorite hero.

**Riven's Room**

Riven found out from Helia that Musa was going to leave soon, but he decided not to see her. He had gotten over the initial euphoria of Musa's recovery and reality was finally setting in. He remembered how horrible it was to see Musa hurt and he knew he couldn't keep putting off his plan to slowly drift away from her. Not seeing her before she left was a perfect way to start. But, Riven realized about a minute after he decided not to see her, how hard his plan was going to be.

Riven didn't stop thinking about her at all, if anything he thought about her more, if that was at all possible. He had been sitting with his computer attempting to write a term paper for the last 4 hours, and so far he had his name and 3 sentences. That was when he heard a knock at his door. _Helia forgot his key…again. _He thought to himself as he rolled his eyes and got up to answer the door.

To Riven's surprise it wasn't Helia at the door, rather it was the love of his life. _I'll get over her…tomorrow_. He said to himself as he opened the door all the way and gestured to her to come in.

"You look better," Riven said as he took a seat on his bed and she sat at his desk.

"Yeah, I was actually on my way back to Alfea and thought I would stop by to say thank you," Musa said hoping this would lead to a conversation… or more.

"Thank me for…?" Riven asked. He was honestly confused, he had totally forgotten that the others didn't know why Darcy attacked the two of them, thus the others didn't blame him for the attack, whereas he had been sending himself on guilt trip after guilt trip all week.

"Nothing much, just saving my life," Musa said sarcastically. He was just being modest, which was a little out of character, there was no way he didn't consider what he did to be heroic, did he?

"Oh that, I didn't save your life," Riven said.

"Really? Then who brought me here?" Musa teased, she knew full well who had brought her to Red Fountain after the attack, and she was just proving her point.

"I didn't save you, saving you would have meant I did something to prevent you from getting hurt, and I didn't do that," Riven informed the newly agitated fairy as he looked away from her and to the ground.

"You are taking this modesty thing too far," Musa said trying to get some snide comment out of him, he seemed sad lately, even before the whole Darcy incident, and she thought teasing him a little might snap him out of it.

"Sorry and your welcome," he finally gave in and a smile began to grow on his face, he couldn't help it; the girl was just so damn perfect.

Musa overlooked the unnecessary apology and giggled. She loved their stupid back and forth battles. The two then continued the conservation that they began in the infirmary before the girls interrupted. Time flew by and before Musa knew it, it was dark out and she definitely needed to get back to Alfea.

"Wow, it's already 8, I was supposed to be back at Alfea 3 hours ago…" She laughed as she got up.

"Oh sorry," Riven said as he also stood up. "Let me take you back, it's dark and your still recovering," Riven knew it wasn't a good idea to be around Musa more than he had to be. On the other hand, it was dark and she was still recovering, he would rather hurt more later, then allow Musa to go through any more pain now.

"That would be great, thank you," Musa tried to keep her enthusiasm under control, even though she was squealing with joy on the inside.

"No problem," Riven smiled and walked to the nightstand Musa was standing next to. He opened the drawer and grabbed his keys when he heard Musa say "Oh my god," Musa said shocked as she looked a particular object that looked incredibly familiar in his drawer. She grabbed Riven's wrist when he tried to slam the drawer shut and tried to figure out what she was feeling.

**OH SUSPENSE!**

**What did Musa find in Riven's nightstand, think back to previous chapters and I'm sure you'll figure it out – But how will Musa react? **

**I actually combined two chapters into one, it flowed better this way. **

**Please Review – thanks**


	12. The Knight Revealed

**Well here it is – the conclusion to the mysterious little game Riven was started – how will Musa react to finding a very important object in Riven's drawer? **

**Chapter 12 - - here you go!

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**The Knight Revealed**

"Oh my god…." Musa said with complete shock as she stopped Riven's hand from closing his drawer by grabbing his wrist.

Riven 1st looked at Musa and wondered why she looked like she had seen a ghost. Then, he turned his attention to what Musa was looking at.

Riven felt his heart drop into his stomach when he realized Musa was staring at his mask. He felt like a complete idiot, he knew Musa was in his room, why wasn't he a little stealthier about this? Why didn't he get rid of the damn thing? He knew perfectly well why he didn't, but still he had no idea on how he was going to wiggle out of this one. He immediately pushed her hand away and slammed the drawer shut. _Maybe she didn't get a good look at it, just get her out of here!_ A voice inside of him screamed to get away. "Okay let's go" Riven said quickly trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

"No!" Musa demanded. She looked at Riven who looked absolutely scared. She had never seen him like this. He looked horrified. Was the idea of being with her that scary, was she that repulsive? Did he hate that night so much? And if he had then why did he do it? She couldn't decide what emotions she was feeling. Hurt, anger, excitement. "What the hell is going on?" she demanded, her voice getting progressively louder.

"Look, Musa I….I…" Riven could barely form words let alone explain the situation to her. There was no way he was going to be able to get out of this one. Why did she have to find out? Everything was going just fine, he was completely fine with the relationship he was having with her. Well, he wasn't fine with their relationship, if he was he wouldn't have concocted this hare brained scheme to begin with, but he was dealing with it.

Musa looked at him and grew angrier when he didn't answer. Why did he do this to her? Did he have real feelings for her, or was this something else? Was she just the butt of some cruel joke?

"Was this some type of joke?" Musa said with hate dripping from her words. "You ass, this was just a cruel joke to play with my emotions, well guess what Riven? You win, you tricked me! I can't believe I thought you were my friend" She shouted as tears began to fall from her eyes. Her words cut like a knife, how could she think that? He was in love with her, all he wanted was her. The sight of tears falling from her eyes made Riven feel even worse, he thought he would never feel worse than when he was looking at her injured, but her crying was worse.

"Musa – no, I mean I – I – I…" Riven could not get a word out of his mouth. He was suddenly realizing he had a very painful choice to make, either tell Musa the truth and hurt her or make up a lie that will hurt her. _This is why you can't be around her! You constantly fuck things up! _He thought to himself. Riven couldn't make a decision fast enough because when he looked up Musa was walking towards the door. He needed to say something, do something, he couldn't let her leave, not like this.

Riven ran to her and gently grabbed a hold of her wrist. She whipped around and slapped him in the face. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" she screamed as she ran out the door. Riven stood their in shock, he knew he needed to chase after Musa, but he thought about how this might have been for the best. If she left angry at him and if he let her go, then she would never want to speak to him again. Of coarse that would mean they would probably never speak after that. Thus, accomplishing the goal of his initial plan, keeping Musa away from him. But, Riven couldn't do it, he loved her too much to let her go. He had tried so hard to distance himself from her and every time he did, he was completely miserable.

After Musa left the room, it took Riven a couple seconds to react. After the initial shock of what was going on wore off, he ran out of his room and chased after the love of his life. He had resolved to tell her the truth, he owed her that much. Riven ran outside and tried frantically to find her. For a recovering fairy, the girl moved pretty damn fast. He then spotted a slender figure walking quickly away from the school. He ran to catch up to her and this time grabbed hold of her wrist firmly making sure not to hurt her.

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**Boy's Common Room**

Timmy was on his laptop when he looked out the window and noticed Musa was walking outside.

"Hey I thought Musa left awhile ago," Timmy said as he turned to the other guys.

"She did," Brandon said.

"Uhh…no she's right outside," Timmy said pointing out the window.

"What! Its dark and she's still recovering and she – " Brandon got cut off by Timmy.

"Oh well there's Riven, she's fine," Timmy said nonchalantly as he turned back to his computer.

Sky then looked out the window and saw the two, and it seemed like they were fighting. "It looks like they are having one of their many confrontations." Sky laughed. He and everyone else was used to their constant bickering because it usually lasted for 20 minutes and then they would be talking like nothing ever happened.

"Really?" Brandon said as he got up and went to the window. He was ready to open the window in order to hear what they were saying when Sky stopped him.

"Dude you really are turning into Stella," Sky laughed as Brandon shut the curtains in front of some of the window in response to the comment.

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**Red Fountain Grounds **

"Please Musa, just let me – " Riven began before he was interrupted by the enraged fairy.

"I kept thinking it was you! I'm so stupid!" Musa spat out at him while she struggled to get out of his grasp.

"Please just listen to me," Riven yelled in an attempt be louder then Musa.

"No! I don't care, I thought you were my friend, how could you do that?" Tears kept falling from her eyes. She had stopped all attempts to get away from Riven and keep her tears from falling. She was hurt and there was no way of hiding how upset she was. _I can't believe this; I actually thought he cared for me, why the hell do I love him? _She was angry at herself for loving him and hurt because it was obvious Riven cared very little for her. "Actually, I want to know," Musa began as she looked up from the ground, tears still falling, but her face was angry and spiteful. "Why did you do it, you had to have some reason."

This was the opportunity that Riven needed to explain to her what was really going on. But when he tried again to form the words, nothing would come out. He had tried so hard to keep his feelings a secret, and now he had to reveal them to the one person that should never have found out about them. When Riven didn't answer, Musa took the silence as Riven refusing to tell her. "I was actually hoping for some explanation, it's nice to know how little I mean to you," Musa said as she finally broke free of Riven's grasp, she turned around and continued on her way. She was done, if he really felt that much dislike toward her, then there was nothing she could do. She was just upset that she had actually fallen under the impression that they could have had more; she was disappointed in herself for letting her heart get broken again.

"That's not true," Riven began. Musa didn't stop walking. "You mean more to me than anyone I've ever met." This stopped Musa in her tracks; she didn't turn around, but stood there and tried to make heads or tails of the situation. Did he really care for her or was he trying to wiggle his way out of being in trouble by confessing to having feelings he didn't really have?

"What?" Musa inquired as she turned around.

Riven knew he had reached a point of no return, he was going to confess everything and then get shot down and lose all hope of ever being with Musa, but given the circumstances, he would be lucky if she ever looked in his direction again. He approached a very skeptical Musa and put his hand on her cheek. He looked into her eyes and took a deep breath. "When I first got to the ball, I figured you would recognize me, it's not like I ever planned on this happening," He began, he noticed Musa's expression hadn't changed so he decided to go on. "When you didn't recognize me, I thought I could finally see what it would be like to be with you, so I took the chance and I'm sorry. You have to believe me; I never wanted to hurt you. I love you."

Riven couldn't believe that he had actually told Musa he was in love with her. It wasn't as hard as he thought it would be, but the expression on Musa's face made wish he hadn't said anything. She didn't look angry, just skeptical and surprised, as if she didn't believe him. That hurt.

Musa wasn't sure if she could believe Riven, he did lie to her about the ball, but then he saved her life. Her initial anger was wearing off and she actually noticed the expression on his face. His features were all softened and his face was not closed off like it normally was. He looked genuinely sorry and remorseful. He had finally been completely honest with her. "Why didn't you just tell me?" Musa ask as she softened her tone. It was obvious that Riven was also hurt by the drama that had unfolded over the past couple weeks.

"Do you want a list?" Riven said sarcastically as he broke his gaze from Musa. He looked to the ground and then looked back at her. "It's pretty obvious that I always seem to mess things up and hurt you. Darcy is always coming after you because of my feelings for you. I don't deserve you, I mean come on Musa, and you're a princess." He said as he slowly backed away from her, he felt so overwhelmed, he hated opening up about his emotions, especially his feelings toward Musa.

Any doubts Musa had about Riven's true feelings towards her were wiped away right then. Musa could see the pain in his eyes; he was telling the truth and Musa felt a surge of happiness run through her body. She was still pissed about the whole Mask Ball lie, but he loved her and she loved him! What he said last bothered her the most; did he really think that she cared about things like that? "Riven, I don't care about things like that, you should have just told me," She didn't mean to sound stern, but she wished she had known earlier.

"Like it would have made a difference. And that's also why I never told you, I never meant for you to find out especially not like this," Riven began, he had to try to save whatever was left of their relationship, this time there would be no secrets and now that he told her maybe he could finally get over her, not that he really wanted to. "I'm really sorry Musa, but we can still be friends, we were good at being friends. Please, we can forget all of this and go back to the way things were." Riven felt like kicking himself, he sounded so desperate and stupid, but he couldn't lose Musa.

Musa stepped closer to Riven and looked to the ground. She was going to tell him that she loved him too, that she didn't want to be friends, she wanted more. She looked up at him and said "I don't really think we can be friends now," she began.

Riven's entire body went numb. _She hates me now; she doesn't want to be around me anymore_. Riven hated himself for causing all of this, he ruined their relationship because he wanted more, and now there was nothing left. "I understand, I'll leave you alone" he said and then turned his face away from hers. He did understand, what he did was wrong and unforgivable. He felt like he was just stabbed in the heart and now he was slowly dying. He then turned to walk away, when he felt Musa soft hand grab his wrist.

"That's not what I meant," she said as she held his wrist firmly. He turned around to face her and she continued, "I meant we can't be friends because…" she felt unbelievably nervous, even though he already admitted his feelings for her. "…because I love you too, and because if we were friends, we couldn't do this." She said as she wrapped her arms around Riven's neck, got on her tip toes and lightly kissed him on the lips. She pulled away for a second when Riven wrapped his arms around her waist, dipped his head down to hers and pulled her into a deep passionate kiss. He opened his mouth and slid his tongue into her mouth as he moved one hand to her face as he caressed her cheek with his thumb. When she responded to him, which didn't take long, he moved his hand down and ran it along the column of her throat.

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**Boy's Common Room**

Timmy looked up from his computer again and decided to see if his friends were still outside bickering, he had bet Sky that they would be fighting for at least 20 minutes. But, to his surprise, they were not arguing, rather they were making out.

"Uhh, I think they made up," Timmy began

"Haha! I win, wait how do you know?" Sky asked as he got up

"Because they are making out," Timmy said nonchalantly even though he was pretty surprised by the act. Immediately all four guys stood up and went to the window. Helia looked out and smiled. _It's about time _he thought.

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**Red Fountain Grounds**

Musa pulled closer until their bodies were pressed against one another, an act that made Riven groan as he kissed her. When the two finally pulled apart, he rested his head against hers. Then, the couple heard whistles coming from a window. The couple looked up and saw 4 of their best friends whistling and cheering them on. Riven gave his friends the look of death and in response they shut the window and let the two get back to their "argument." He laughed and looked back at Musa.

"Wanna get outta here?" He asked as he reached into his pocket and grabbed the keys that had gotten him into the situation, he couldn't have been more content with the outcome though.

"Where should we go? The girls are gonna be all over us," Musa said knowing that one of the guys would tell the girls before she and Riven had the chance to get back to Alfea.

"I didn't mean Alfea," Riven said with a smirk

"Oh? Then where?" Musa asked coyly.

"It's a surprise, lets go," Riven said. Musa smiled and then turned in the direction of where his bike was. Riven smirked as he grabbed her hand and pulled her into another kiss. He would never get tired of doing this.

"I love you," Riven said as pulled away and he ran his fingers through her beautiful silky hair.

"I love you too," Musa said as she smiled back at him.

Riven gave a content sigh as he looked into her eyes. After three years of longing for her, he finally had to woman of his dreams in his arms and he was never going to let her go.

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just figured out how to put that line there!! haha**

**I added the little scences with the guys because I thought it would be cute to have the guy's gossiping alittle, instead of the girls. Cause in reality guys gossip, granted not as much as us girls, but still. **

**YAY everyone is happy and what not – keep going to the Epilogue! **

**Remember to review!**


	13. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**One Year Later**

Musa looked into her mirror and played with her hair a little. It was down and curled slightly. She was wearing a floor length gown. It was a tight red dress that had small rhinestones embroidered down the side of the dress in a beautiful design. Her mask was silver with red feathers. She got ready to walk out of her room, which she no longer needed to share since all the girls got their own rooms when they became seniors. Musa put on the stiletto heels that Stella made her buy and walked out of her room.

Outside in the common room that she shared with her best friends she was surprised to see all the guys waiting for their girlfriends to finish getting ready. "Hey guys." She said as she grabbed her purse that was on the table. "How's school?" All the boys decided to go to Magix University, so that they wouldn't be far from their girlfriends and because the majority of Red Fountain and Alfea graduates went there after graduation.

"Fun!" Sky said, he and all the guys were enjoying college life.

"Well, If you need me tonight, this is me," she said as she put on her mask.

"Gotcha," Brandon said as he put on his mask. "We'll see you down there in like 10 minutes, Stella needs to find some earrings." He said as she took a seat.

"And she's holding the rest of you hostage?" Musa asked when she saw nobody else was getting up to leave.

"Pretty much, get out while you can," Timmy said from his seat. Musa smiled, grabbed her purse and walked out of the room.

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**Ballroom**

Musa stood at the top of the grand staircase and began her descent, alone. She looked out into the ballroom and saw all the couples dancing and smiled. Just like the year before, she captured the attention of many guys, and like the year before their respective dates were not too happy. As she got to the bottom of the stairs, she spotted him. A man dressed in white wearing a white mask and a smirk.

She walked over to him and without saying a word; she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You look beautiful," He said as he looked into the princess's eyes.

"So you recognized me?" Musa asked.

"If I remember correctly, me recognizing you wasn't the problem," he said with a smirk. He then bent down and lightly kissed her. She, in response to the kiss, pressed her lips against his. The two stood their kissing for what seemed like an eternity when Musa ran her fingers through his hair and untied his mask. When she had the mask in her hand she looked up at Riven and smiled. Musa loved that the chemistry between them did not fizzle away over the past year, if anything, the chemistry between them intensified.

"It not midnight, baby," Riven informed his girlfriend

"I know, I was just making sure." Musa said cheekily.

"So you weren't positive the guy you were just kissing was me?" Riven said with a hard look on his face. Musa shrugged and gave him a seductive smile. He couldn't be angry at her, he couldn't even keep up fake angry too long.

"Don't be angry at me,I was 99 sure it was you," she said with a pout. When she noticed his face was unchanged she said, "I love you" and lightly kissed him on the cheek. He nodded and then kissed her passionately. He love kissing her, holding her, just being around her.

"Get a room!" yelled Bloom from the steps as she and Sky came into the ballroom. Sky looked at his girlfriend, who was now cracking up, in shock.

Musa blushed and then shot back a sassy retort. "Oh, your one to talk," she said. This made Bloom laugh even more, until Sky was practically carrying her down the steps.

Musa then looked at Riven who was also laughing and felt so happy. She loved him, he loved her. She grabbed his hand and led him through the crowd until they were in the hallway. "What are you doing," Riven said as he followed Musa.

"Taking Bloom's advice, if that's okay with you," Musa said seductively. Riven was surprised, but pretty happy.

"You know I'm fine with that," he began with a smirk, "But, are you sure? You're gonna miss the ball," Riven teased.

"Oh, I'm positive" she said as she kissed him on the cheek and led him back to her room.

**THE END

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**I'M FINISHED!!! Yay - i wrote me 1st fanfic!**

**Well, what do you think they are going to do??? I'll leave that up to your imagination. But I'm sure you know what I'm getting at. **

**Anyway…**

**I'm a sucker for happy endings and these two belong together, but a tragic ending may have been interesting – I have had a lot of fun writing it so I really hope you liked reading it. **

**PLEASE REVIEW – tell me ****honestly**** what you thought of the story. **


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